too
many to stand off those four rascals."

Tom watched the trio of horsemen out of sight in the morning.

"If Jim doesn't lose his head that trip will mean that we shall
see the last of Dolph Gage," mused the young engineer.

For once Tom Reade was in grave error, as subsequent events proved.

"It's ten minutes of seven," Harry reminded him.

"Get ready, men," Tom shouted to their few laborers, who were
enjoying a few minutes leisure after breakfast.

At seven o'clock the young engineers and their handful of toilers
moved over to the point in the outcropping vein of ore that Reade
had selected for their first blast.

A small portable engine had already been fired, and all was ready
for turning on the steam drill.

Twenty minutes later a satisfactory boring had been made.

"Bring up the dynamite," called Tom.

"Are you going to pack the charge?" Harry inquired.

"Yes," nodded Tom, and received the stick of dynamite from the
miner who brought it.

While this was being made ready, Hazelton superintended the laying
of the wires to the magneto battery. All was soon in readiness.

"The red flag is up," Tom shouted.

The dynamite had been rather loosely tamped home, for young Reade
wanted to begin with light rending force and work up, through
successive blasts, to just the proper amount of force.

"Get back, everybody!" Reade called, and there was a flying of
feet. Tom was last to leave the spot. He ran over to where Harry
stood at a safe distance.

"Pump her up, Harry," nodded the young chief engineer.

"You watch me, and see just how I run this magneto," Hazelton
said to one of their men who stood near by. "This will be your
job after we've fired a few charges. I want you to get the hang
of the trick."

Harry worked the handle of the magneto up and down.

Bang! Over where the drilling had been done a mass of dirt and
rock was shot up into the air.

"What are you running so fast for, Harry?" laughed Tom, as he pursued
his chum back to the scene of the blast.

"I want to see if we stirred up any real ore. I want to know if our
claim is worth the grub it takes to feed the men," was Hazelton's
almost breathless response.

CHAPTER XIV

THE COOK LEARNS A LESSEN

Arrived on the spot it took Tom only a moment to estimate that
considerably less than a quarter of a ton of ore had been loosened
from the rock bed by the blast.

"We'll drill six inches deeper next time, and put in fifty